308        REFORMIATION     IN FRANCE-THE        IHUGUENOTS.

of January, 1562, both suspended the execution of all penal laws on the
score of religion, and granted to the Calvinists ample liberty for the exercise
of their worship. But the minds of men were too fiercely exasperated by
mutual injuries to listen to the voice of moderation. Nothing less than the
extirpation of what they termed idolatry could satisfy the fanatics among
the reformers: and by the zealots of the opposite party the smallest conces-
sion to the new religionists was deemed an apostasy from the faith of their
fathers. It was impossible to prevent these factions from coming into colli-
sion in different places: riots, pillage, and bloodshed were generally the con-
sequence; and the leaders on both sides began to prepare for the great con-
flict which they foresaw, by associations within, and confederacies without,
the realm.
  "On the one hand Conde, Coligny, and d'Andelot, encouraged by the ad-
vice of the English ambassador Throckmorton,.who continually urged them
to draw the sword against their opponents, claimed pecuniary aid of Eliza-
beth, and dispatched envoys to levy reisters and lansquenets among their
fellow religionists in Germany: On the other, Montmorency, the duke of
Guise, and the Marshall St. Andre entered into a solemn compact to support
the ancient creed by the extirpation of the new doctrines; solicited for that
purpose the co-operation of the king of Spain; and sought to draw to their
party the Lutheran princes of Germany. At first the queen regent, more
apprehensive of the ambition of the duke of Guise than of that of the prince
of Cond6, had offered to the latter the support of the royal authority; but
the king of Navarre had been gained over to the Catholic cause. Cath-
erine and her son were conducted by him from Fontainbleau to Paris;
and from that hour they made common cause with those among whom
fortune rather than inclination had thrown them. In a short time the
flames of war burst out in every province in France. If the lieutenant-
general secured Paris for the king, the prince of Conde fortified Orleans for
the insurgents. Each party displayed that ferocious spirit, that thirst for
vengeance, which distinguishes civil and religious warfare: one deed of un-
justifiable severity was requited by another; and the most inhuman atroci-

   " Throckmorton informs us, in one of his letters, that the duke charged
him to his face with being 'the author of all the troubles ;' and therefore
required him to help to bring them out of trouble, as he had helped to
' bring them into it.' In his answer the ambassador did not venture to deny
the charge. Forbes ii, 255-257 ..... Nos divisions, lesquelles Trockmorton
avoit fomentees et entretenues longuement par la continuelle frequentation
et intelligence qu'il avoit avec l'admiral et ceux de son parti ..... il fit
entrer sa maitresse en cette partie, dont elle ml a souvent dit depuis, qu'elle
sestoit repentie, mais trop tard. Castelnau, Mem. xliv, 50."